Electrical relay



1944. P. N. MARTIN 2,355,543

ELECTRICAL RELAY Filed Dec. 15, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR HZ! ATTOR N EY 1944. P. N. MARTIN 2,355,543

ELEC'I'RI CAL RELAY Filed Dec. 15, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 H125 ATTORNEY Aug. 8, 1944. P. N. MARTIN ELECTRICAL RELAY 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 15, 1942 ab- 15m H1! ATTORNEY Aug. 8, 1944. P. N. MARTIN ELECTRICAL RELAY Filed Dec. 15, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 8, 1944 ELECTRICAL RELAY Paul N. Martin, Penn Township,

Allegheny County, Pa., assignor to The Union Switch & Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 15, 1942, Serial No. 469,088

2 Claims.

My invention relates to electrical relays, and particularly to polar neutral relays of the socalled plug-in type suitable for use in railway signaling systems and the like.

One object of my invention is to provide a novel arrangement of the polar and neutral armatures in a relay of the type described to facilitate connecting these armatures with the relay contacts.

According to my invention, the relay comprises a pair of spaced parallel cores connected at one end by a backstrap, and mounted in a horizontal position on a vertical backplate of insulating material. The cores are each surrounded by an energizing winding and are provided at their free ends with enlarged pole pieces. These pole pieces cooperate with a neutral armature which is secured in a vertical position to the short arm of an L-shaped supporting bracket mounted to oscillate about horizontally aligned pivots disposed at the junction of the long and short arms of the bracket. The polar armature extends transversely of the cores above the cores intermediate their ends, and is pivotally supported intermediate its ends in a bifurcated yoke magnetically connected to the relay backstrap at a point intermediate the two cores. The polar armature cooperates at its free ends with the like poles of two permanent magnets. These permanent magnets extend parallel to the main cores and are each connected at one end with one of the main pole pieces. The relay contacts are mounted on the backplate in vertical rows above the magnetic structure of the relay, and the movable fingers of certain of the rows are operatively connected to the polar armature by means of insulating operating members, while the movable fingers of the remainder of the rows are connected by means of similar insulating operating members to the long arm of the neutral armature supporting bracket.

Other objects and characteristic features of my invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

I shall describe one form of polar neutral relay embodying my invention, and shall then point out the novel features thereof in claimsv In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side view partly in section and partly in elevation of v a relay embodying my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are front and top views respectively of the relay shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the backstrap 3 forming part of the relay shown in the preceding views. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View in isometric projection showing the core structure of the relay illustrated in the preceding views.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the relay in the form here illustrated comprises two parallel cores I and la connected at one end by a backstrap 3 and provided at the opposite ends With enlarged pole pieces 2 and 2a. The backstrap 3 is T- shaped as shown in Fig. 4, and is secured to the vrear side of a non-magnetizable supporting bracket 4, which supporting bracket, in turn, is fastened by means of screws or bolts 5 to a backplate 6. The backplate 6 is preferably of moulded insulating material, and is recessed at I for the reception of the backstrap 3. The cores I and Ia are horizontally disposed and extend at their forward ends through clearance holes 8 formed in laterally projecting ears 9 provided on the forward end of the supporting bracket, and the pole pieces are secured as by riveting to these ears. Surrounding the cores I and Ia are the usual energizing windings I0 and Illa connected in series to set up cumulative fluxes in the cores.

The pole pieces 2 and 2a cooperate with a neutral armature I I which is secured in a vertical position to the short arm I20, of an L-shaped non-magnetic supporting bracket I2 mounted to oscillate about horizontally aligned trunnion screws'I3 and I4 disposed at the junction of the short arm I2a with the long arm I213. The trunnion screws I3 and I4 are screwed through upstanding ears I5 and I6 formed on a non-magnetizable bracket I'I secured to the upper side of the bracket 4. The armature is free to swing toward and away from the pole pieces 2 and 2a but is prevented from actually touching the pole pieces by non-magnetic core pins I8.

The relay also comprises a polar armature 2e which extends transversely of the relay above the cores I and la intermediate their ends. The polar armature is pivotally supported intermediate its ends on trunnion screws 2| screwed through bifurcations 22a. provided on a magnetizable yoke 22, and cooperates at its ends with polar pole pieces 23 and 24. The pole pieces 23 and 24 are secured to the bracket 4 and are connected with the like poles of two bar magnets 25 and 26, respectively. These bar magnets extend parallel to the cores I and la, and are connected at the ends opposite to the polar pole pieces with the neutral pole pieces I and la, respectively. The magnetic yoke 22 is fastened to the upper side of the bracket 4, and is formed with an extension 22b which is magnetically connected with the backstrap 3 intermediate the two cores I and I a.

The contacts of the relay are mounted on the backplate 6 above the previously described structure of the relay, and as here shown, they are arranged in eight laterally spaced vertical rows each row of which includes two vertically spaced movable contact fingers 21 located between a cooperating fixed contact finger 28 and a cooperating fixed contact finger 29. The iorward portion of each finger is flexible, and is riveted to a rigid rear portion moulded into an insulating block 30, Each block 30 supports two horizontal rows of four fingers each, and is removably clamped by means of screws 3| against the forward face of the backplate 4, whereby the contacts may readily be removed and replaced by other contacts when desired. The rigid portion of each contact finger is made sufficiently long to extend through an aligned opening in the backplate and into a rectangular recess formed in the rear side of the backplate, and constitutes a plug for making contact with a suitable female connector mounted on a suitable mounting plate for the relay in a manner similar to that described in detail in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,198,704, granted to Branko Lazich on April 30, 1940.

Each movable contact finger 21 is provided at its outer end with bifurcations 21a, and extending upwardly between each pair of rows of fingers is an insulating contact operating member 35 having four laterally projecting arms 36 one of which is disposed between the bifurcations on each movable finger of the two adjacent rows. The arms 36 are round, and the parts are so proportioned that the arms will snap in place between the bifurcations and will subsequently be held in place by the inherent resiliency of the bifurcations. Each bifurcation is formed with suflicient curvature so that when the arms of the operating members are in place between the bifurcations, they are free to move a sufficient amount to operate the associated contacts without an undue amount of friction. The two outer operating members 35 are pivotally connected at their lower ends with the opposite ends of the polar armature 20 by means of pins 39 mounted in U-shaped brackets 40 secured to the armature, and the remaining two operating members are connected in a similar manner with the long arm Nb of the armature supporting bracket l2.

The operation of the relay as a Whole is as follows. When the energizing windings I0 and [0a of the relay are supplied with energizing current, the polar armature will remain in the position shown or will move to its opposite position depending upon whether the relative polarity of this current is what I shall arbitrarily designate norma or reverse relative polarity, and the neutral armature will swing toward the pole pieces 2 and 2a. When, however, the relay becomes deenergized, the polar armature will remain in the position which it then occupies by virtue of the polarizing fiux supplied by the permanent magnet connected with the polar pole shoes 23 or 24 which is then separated from the polar armature by the smallest air gap, and the neutral armature will move away from the pole pieces 2 and 2a to the position shown in Fig. 1 due to the force of gravity acting on the long arm l2b of the neutral armature supporting bracket l2.

When the polar armature occupies the position shown the movable contact fingers 21 of the two rows of contacts connected with the left-hand side of the polar armature as viewed in Fig. 2, will be held in engagement with the associated fixed contact finger 29 and out of engagement with the associated fixed contact fingers 28, while the movable contact fingers of the two rows of contacts connected with the right-hand side of the polar armature as viewed in Fig. 2 will be held in engagement with the associated fixed contact fingers 28 and out of engagement with the associated fixed contact fingers 29. When the polar armature is reversed from the position shown, the movable contact fingers 21 of the two rows of contacts connected with the left-hand side of the polar armature will then be held in engagement with the associated fixed contact fingers 28 and out of engagement with the associated fixed contact fingers 29, while the movable fingers 21 of the remaining two rows connected with the polar armature will be held in engagement with the associated fixed contact fingers 29 and out of engagement with the associated fixed contact fingers 28.

When the neutral armature l I occupies its released position, the movable contact fingers 21 connected with this armature will each engage the associated fixed contact finger 29, whereas when the neutral armature II occupies its attracted position, the movable contact fingers 21 connected with this armature will then each engage the associated fixed contact finger 28.

One advantage of a relay constructed in accordance with my invention is that it permits the various parts to be compactly arranged in a relatively small space and still permits sufilcient clearance to meet railway signaling requirements.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of electrical relay embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A polar neutral relay comprising two parallel cores connected at one end by a backstrap and surrounded by energizing windings, pole pieces on said cores at the ends opposite to said backstrap, a neutral armature cooperating with said pole pieces, a magnetizable yoke connected with said backstrap, a polar armature pivotally supported intermediate its ends in said yoke and extending transversely of said cores intermediate their ends, two permanent magnets extending parallel to said cores and each connected at one end with a different one of said pole pieces, the ends which are connected with said pole pieces being of like polarity, and polar pole shoes connected with the free ends of said magnets and cooperating respectively with the opposite ends of said polar armature.

2. A relay comprising a vertical backplate of insulating material, a pair of spaced parallel cores connected at one end by a backstrap and mounted in a horizontal position in a non-magnetic bracket secured to said backplate, an energizing winding surrounding each core, pole pieces provided on the free ends of said cores, an L-shaped bracket having a vertical and a horizontal arm pivotally supported to oscillate about an axis disposed at the junction of its arms by means secured to said non-magnetic bracket, a neutral armature secured to the vertical arm of said bracket and cooperating with said pole pieces, a magnetic yoke mounted on said nonmagnetic bracket above said cores intermediate their ends and connected with said backstrap, and a polar armature pivotally supported in said yoke intermediate its ends and extending transversely of the relay underneath the horizontal arm of said L-shaped bracket.

PAUL N. MARTIN. 

